Nathan Scheelhaase comes home to dome - sort of

Tuesday

Aug 31, 2010 at 12:01 AMAug 31, 2010 at 6:05 PM

CHAMPAIGN — Illinois redshirt freshman quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase returns to his “home’’ state when the Illini open the season against Missouri at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis in the final game of a four-year series pitting the border rivals.

John Supinie

CHAMPAIGN — Illinois redshirt freshman quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase returns to his “home’’ state when the Illini open the season against Missouri at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis in the final game of a four-year series pitting the border rivals.

For a 19-year-old rookie making his first start, Scheelhaase would have it no other way in the season opener Saturday (11:30 a.m., Fox Sports Midwest, Comcast). He grew up with a Kansas address but considers himself a Missouri kid.

“I’m definitely looking forward to it,’’ said Scheelhaase, who lived in Overland Park, Kan., but led Rockhurst, a Catholic school, to the Class 6 state title in Missouri as a junior in 2007. “I’m not going to lie about it. I’m not going to say it’s not circled on the schedule. It is. I’m excited about it. We all are, but I’m probably a little more into it.’’

Illinois has lost to Missouri in the dome each of the past three seasons and five straight times in the building overall, including losses to the Tigers in the in 2002 and 2003 under former Illinois coach Ron Turner.

“We have a chance to have the last laugh,’’ Scheelhaase said. “It would be a great way to start the season. Even in the Rose Bowl year (in 2007), we didn’t start off by winning that game. We’re not afraid to say it’s a big game and make it a big game. It’s a huge game for us.’’

By attending the Jesuit school located on the Missouri side of State Line Road in Kansas City, Scheelhaase “ticked off certain people,’’ he said. Scheelhaase knows maybe 30, 40, 50 kids attending Missouri, and he even spent a weekend on the campus in Columbia last winter.

But the Tigers weren’t the right fit for Scheelhaase, the mobile 6-foot-3, 195-pounder who turned down the Tigers, Oklahoma and Iowa to attend Illinois. Missouri had earlier taken a commitment from Blue Springs (Mo.) South quarterback Blaine Dalton in the same recruiting class. With quarterback Blaine Gabbert also on the Missouri roster, the speculation was Scheelhaase would have been moved to defense.

“I use him as an example to a lot of kids being recruited,’’ Rockhurst coach Tony Severino said. “Nathan and his mom and dad did their homework.’’

Scheelhaase led Rockhurst to a 13-0 record and the state title in 2007, when his 34-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter broke it open in a 28-9 win over Mehlville in the title game in the St. Louis dome. Scheelhaase remains close with Severino, who will attend the game Saturday despite a long road trip and little sleep.

Rockhurst plays at Hutchinson, Kan., on Friday night. Severino won’t return to Rockhurst until 2 a.m. After a couple hours of sleep, he plans to ride to St. Louis for the game.

Severino was accepting a personal invitation from Scheelhaase.

“He asked me at a wedding (in August) in St. Louis,’’ Severino said. “He said, ‘Coach, I’d really love you to be there.’ When he asked, we’ve got to go. His mom said he wants me in a spot where he can hear me.’’

Scheelhaase will have close to 30 relatives on his mother’s side of the family from Iowa at the game. Two uncles on his father’s side will travel to St. Louis from Brooklyn, N.Y. But Scheelhaase will be kept busy battling for state braggin’ rights.

“I have a lot of roots connected with that state, that school,’’ Scheelhaase said. “I’m looking forward to it. I’m not going to shy away from it.’’

“When you lose three guys in a few days, and you move some new guys into those roles, you can’t do everything you want,’’ Koenning said. “You have to be somewhat vanilla.’’

Tight end London Davis is transferring, coach Ron Zook acknowledged, and reports have the sophomore from Cahokia moving to Tennessee State.

Basketball

On the first day of Illinois basketball workouts last week, coach Bruce Weber was impressed with the freshman class, especially forward Jereme Richmond and guard Crandall Head.

Richmond has “a good feel for the game, good footwork and fundamentals,’’ Weber said. “In talking to him, he understands things. He has a good feel for basketball. This will be fun to watch him.’’

Head is rebounding from knee surgery that sidelined him the entire season last winter.
“He didn’t play for a year,’’ Weber said. “He’s worked hard on his fundamentals. They’re better than I thought.’’

Volleyball

Ranked No. 5 nationally after opening with three victories, Illinois plays at No. 2 Texas Friday in the Texas Invitational in Austin. The Illini won the Illini Classic at Huff Hall Friday and Saturday, rolling past BYU, South Carolina and Middle Tennessee State.

Illini setter Hillary Haen earned Big Ten defensive player of the week and Illini Classic MVP honors after collecting 134 assists. She is a senior from Crystal Lake Prairie Ridge.

In other news

Illinois senior Scott Langley fell in the quarterfinals at the U.S. Amateur Friday, ending a summer run that started with the NCAA title in June and continued with a tie for 16th at the U.S. Open. He was named to the U.S. team for the World Amateur Championships in Argentina on Oct. 28-31. U.S. Amateur champ Peter Uihlein of Oklahoma State and runner-up David Chung of Stanford will join Langley, who is ranked No. 10 in the world among amateurs.